a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Dear NBA: You don’t leave a brother hanging.

So at least the NBA got something right, and Jerry will not be facing any “discliplinary action” for daring to stand his ground as yet another out-of-control ref tried to instigate an altercation.

So when is the ref in question, Michael Smith, going to get punished?

Say what you want about Jerry Sloan, and love him or hate him, but he always tells it like it is. He’s as straight shooting as they come, and two decades is long enough to know that the man does not make excuses.

And so, I believe his side of the story. He has never done a thing to make us think that he would manipulate the facts, twist details, make sh!t up, or outright lie.

It’s incredible that a Hall of Fame and longest tenured coach in NBA history gets no respect from these upstart pricks. Jerry is a model citizen–you never, ever hear him complain about the officiating after games. Meanwhile, Smith is out there on some power trip knowing that whatever he does, he’ll be protected. The refs have the power to throw out players and coaches, but who keeps these egomaniacs in check when they’re instigating altercations?

The league has a precedence of meting out punishment before the next game, but chose to leave Jerry hanging in some kind of twisted mind game and didn’t announce anything until after the next game had already concluded. This isn’t some interim coach or 8-teams-in-3-years coach we’re talking about. This is Jerry F***ing Sloan, and he demands your respect.